Rafael Nadal tied Roger Federer with 20 Grand Slam titles by producing a nearly perfect performance against Novak Djokovic in the French Open Final. Nadal is the oldest French Open champion since 1972 and the more than 15 years between his first and most recent Grand Slam titles is the longest such span for a man.
Nadal equaled long-time rival Federer for the most major singles tennis championships won by a man and added to his own record at Roland Garros with No. 13 on the red clay, courtesy of a surprisingly dominant 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory over the No. 1-ranked Djokovic.
When Nadal ended it with an ace, he dropped to his knees, smiled widely and pumped his arms. Nadal, No. 2 in the rankings, improved to 100-2 at the French Open, including a combined 26-0 in semi-finals and finals, and picked up his fourth consecutive title in Paris. The 34-year-old left-hander from Spain previously put together streaks of four French Open championships from 2005-08, then five in a row from 2010-14, to go alongside his four trophies at the US Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open.
Nadal is now even with Federer for the first time since each man had zero Slams to his name in 2003. Federer's first arrived at Wimbledon that year; Nadal, naturally, earned his first in France in 2005, by which point he trailed 4-0. Djokovic's loss left him at 17 majors; had he won, the trio's standings would have read 20-19-18. Djokovic had won 14 of the last 18 matchups against Nadal, and led 29-26 overall, including a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win at the 2019 Australian Open final.
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